Pilots flying modern, high-speed jet aircraft have recently been introduced to a sophisticated component that greatly expands their capabilities: night vision goggles. This is an instrument that attaches to the shell of a pilot's helmet and positions Image Intensifiention Tubes (I.sup.2 tubes) in front of his eyes to give him a limited view, that was not present before, of a nightime battlefield.
The various brands of goggles, and associated parts and components, usually consist of individual left and right eye pieces, an adjustable framework, an electronics package and a latching mechanism. The whole device normally weighs about 2 pounds and is built to be attached to a channelled rampway by a bar-actuated release latch. The latch uses double flanges to hook underneath separate pins built into the rampway and allows the goggles to hang off the top of the pilot's helmet and in front of his eyes. The goggles are built to be manually attached and removed by use of the latching mechanism. To attach the goggles, the pilot guides the front and back flanges into locking engagement with the front and back pins in the rampway. To remove the goggles, the pilot must lift up on a spring-biased release bar, which removes locking pressure from between the flanges and the pins, and then slide the goggles forward away from the rampway. Normally, pilots do not fly their whole mission with the goggles in place, but rather install and remove them at appropriate times.
While the above-described latching mechanism is suitable for normal missions, it introduces a severe danger to pilot safety whenever an emergency arises during goggle use. If such an in-flight emergency occurs and the pilot must eject from the aircraft while the goggles are attached to the helmet and supported by the pilot's neck, the sudden acceleration of the ejection seat coupled with the offset center of gravity of the goggles will cause severe, even fatal, neck injury. Until the instant invention, there was no means to automatically separate the goggles from the pilot prior to ejection.